Final Passage

They set the sails to meet the tide

As once again the waves she’ll ride.

With time ashore the men heave to

And say goodbye to lovers new.

From day to day and port to port

Their lady makes the passage short.

Until the goods are all ashore

And men of the sea head home once more.

Through hills of blue the lady plies

Guided on by the somber eyes

Of men whose life belongs to thee;

Their choice in life has been the sea.

The passage long the sea is rough.

The men are strong the ship is tough.

At times their life is breath-to-breath.

Time and again the sea brings death.

But when at last the lines are cast

And the gangway hits the shore

There will come a day when time has passed

And the Captain sails no more.

A nature strange for a Lady Fair

To harden the skin and gray the hair.

Still, on we’ll sail ‘til our day arrives

And the final passage ends our lives.

Men of the sea we are today!

Men of the sea ‘til our dying day!